Rocco — Restaurant in Lisbon

TLDR: Amazing food. Untrained staff. Mediocre service and poor management... We will certainly not go back, nor will we recommend to friends...

We were a group of 5 going out to celebrate by wife's birthday while in Lisbon... We had heard many positive things about this place, and booked a table approximately 2 and a half months ago. I must say that I was left disappointed, not by the food, but by the service and actions of some of the employees.

I'll start off with the food. The food was delicious, the chef truly knows what they are doing there ...

The service on the other hand did not meet the expectations based on the hype and price...

The waiter, although a very nice gentleman, did not seem to have been well trained or have knowledge of the menu. As we would order items (at times in English and at times in Portuguese), he would come around so that we could show him the item on the menu... Given that we were seated at the far back table at a corner, he at times needed to squeeze between us to see what we wanted... But that is all ok, not a problem at all... We put our orders through, and my wife ordered the Saltimbocca, specifically asking for it to be medium rare... When the food came, it was well done, and I proceeded to speak to the waiter about it. The waiter spoke to the manager, and came back and said that it was not possible to cook it medium rare as it was cooked slowly... If that is the case, he should have mentioned that when taking the order for a medium rare saltimbocca... No problem, we asked him to swap it out for the Tenderloin, which was done promptly... The waiter really tried hard, which I appreciate, however in the end the service expectations were certainly not met.

The staff seemed to always be "running around" likely because they had too many tables per employee... The guy who brought the bread would rush things and leave before we could actually finish a full sentence (he did that 3x)...

The water was slow to come, and as we were sitting at a corner that was quite warm, we were drinking a good amount of water... After having asked for more water for my wife, and waiting a few minutes, I decided to get up and simply grab the bottle (which was only about 2 metres from me)... At that point the manager, who was close by, runs over and gets the half empty bottle from my hands saying that he would like for us to feel at home, so we should not need to get up... But then he proceeds to look at the bottle and say that it was not enough for all of us, and that he would ask the waiter to bring a new bottle. He then took the half empty bottle away, and did not pour the water for any of us, leaving us thirsty and staring at a half empty bottle of water...

Another issue was related the so called sommelier... My wife was having a glass of Prosecco, and her glass was down to about half, and it had been sitting for about 45 minutes so it was warm... I ordered another glass, and the Sommelier simply tops her glass up with some more Prosecco!!! I asked to speak to him and asked him why he would do such thing... He said this is what he does because the glass is already cold... I proceeded to tell him that it was warm, as it had been sitting for a while, but also that simply adding cold Prosecco to the warm glass would not be sufficient, as we were paying for another glass but only getting a couple of ounces... He seemed bothered and rudely said that if we wanted a fresh new glass, he would get it for us (and that is what he did, and then disappeared to never show up again).

The gap between the end of the appetizer round and the serving of the main course was excessive to the point where my 2 daughters and my wife felt full after the long 45 min wait.

Despite these issues, I was surprised the manager never came to speak to us at all, as one would expect...

The bill came to about €100 per person, with an average of 1 alcoholic drink per person.

Yes, the food was excellent, but when going to a place like this, we expect an experience, not just good food... We can get good food for €10 in...

Our group of 10 was celebrating a 30th birthday. Because of the group size, we were told we had no choice but to do the coursed menu. We selected the most expensive tier at €125 per person. A week before, we submitted our meal choices, and there was some confusion on my part regarding the wine tasting.

The restaurant had given us several options for a wine pairing, and they were very persistent about getting an answer ahead of time. I assumed this was just something they needed confirmed, not that every single guest would be required to participate. When I communicated with the restaurant, I chose the €35 pairing, thinking it was simply the option we’d move forward with for those interested. I hadn’t realized this meant everyone would automatically be charged. Maybe that was my misunderstanding, but on the night of the dinner, three of us weren’t feeling well and didn’t want to drink alcohol.

When I raised this calmly with the sommelier, she immediately became defensive, said it was in “the contract,” and her attitude shifted. To be clear, there was never a signed contract… everything was handled by email with deposit. The wine was also not included in the deposit which felt even more misleading to insist it was part of some contract. After that, she completely avoided me for the rest of the evening. The best she could do was offer a mocktail substitution, which I accepted, though it wasn’t what we expected.

The substitutions themselves were not of equal value. I paid €35 and received only a single mojito mocktail. Another guest got one iced tea (which was more like sugary juice) and my husband wasn’t offered anything at all, not even a soda. That is not an acceptable exchange for a €35 charge. Meanwhile, for those who did the pairing, it wasn’t truly a pairing at all. It was just unlimited pours of the same red and white, despite the restaurant promising “each wine will be paired with a specific course.” It was literally bottomless wine… which, in theory, should have made it even easier for guests to opt out. A complete waste of €105.

Adding to this, many reviews mention the champagne served at the beginning is not complimentary, and we experienced the same. It was never disclosed until after I asked the sommelier, so our bill had a €98 up-charge for champagne. Since we were celebrating a birthday, I assumed this was part of the wine pairing, but it wasn’t.

As for the food, the avocado tuna tartare was excellent, fresh and flavorful. Unfortunately, the prawn risotto was grainy and far too salty. Everyone at our table agreed it wasn’t their favorite dish. One guest disliked both his starter and risotto, and the general manager openly mocked him for not eating, which felt uncomfortable for everyone at the table who witnessed. He always went to kneel down next to the women only and explain the dishes, versus standing up, and explaining the dishes to the entire group.

The veal was very good, cooked perfectly with mashed potatoes. The vegetarian pasta, however, was uninspired and no better than boxed pasta… Dessert was the highlight, with the cake and ice cream pairing amazing

The space is beautiful, but the focus is clearly more on being Instagrammable than on service or food quality. The passive aggressive sommelier and the uncomfortable vibes we got from the general manager honestly ruined our night. However, the one gentlemen who physically dropped off the plates and asked if we were ready for our next meal was absolutely great! We wish we had him all night.

Maybe an à la carte option would have been much better? We ended up spending over €2300, and left extremely disheartened and disappointed. It was embarrassing because I had planned this dinner a month before, so I felt as though the night was my fault. I’ve been a waitress/bartender, and I understand that big groups can be overwhelming, but I’d never treat my guest the way we were treated that night. So sadly, I...

It's extremely important to share this review with your staff. Our reservations to dine at Gastro Bar and Rocco's were confirmed and we were told we were going to have to pay a cancellation fee if we didn't show up. Needless to say, it was alarming to found out that our reservations had a mix up. We confirmed our reservation for Sunday, April 27th for 9:45 pm. We arrived at 9:15 pm and was seated at the Gastro Bar for a pre-dinner cocktail. It was great start to an evening which was part of our Lisbon experience. Our family and friends had raved about their amazing experience during their visit a few years ago. Unfortunately, our experience was far from amazing but was a nightmare. Our hostess forgot about seating us for our 9:45 pm reservation for Rocco's. We were chatting with the couple who came in 20 minutes after we arrived who had a 10 pm reservation. Your hostess came over to show them to their table at 10:15 and when the couple questioned her regarding them being seated before us, she responded, "oh, I thought you were enjoying your drinks but you will be next to be seated. We have dined at some of the finest restaurants in the world and understand delays but this experience was beyond disappointing. We were seated at 10:45 pm for our 9:45 pm reservation. The sommelier greeted us and took our drink order and was told our server would be with us in a few minutes to take our food order. We watched as the family seated next to us finish their meal and settled their bill and leave. We watched the six women at the table next to us get all four courses of their meals, eat and order dessert. We finally got the sommelier attention so spoke with the server regarding taking our food order. The time, 11:20 pm!!! No apologies from our server who took our order and disappeared. He stated he would be back with some bread which arrived at 11:45 pm. Our meal arrived at midnight for our 9:45 pm reservation. To add insult to injury our server seemed annoyed because we requested the check and refused to order dessert. He was quick to bring the bill over and hover over me as he showed me the two options listed to pay our bill. We are from New York and know how to read a bill and tipping is part of our culture. However, this man who stood over me with his recommendation of paying the larger amount was obnoxiously rude. We will not be returning to Rocco's in the future and will be sharing our experience with family...